Raju Pal

Raju Pal (18 June 1975 – 25 January 2005) was a Bahujan Samaj Party politician in India. In 2004, gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed resigned from Prayagraj West Assembly constituency after being elected to the Lok Sabha. Raju Pal won the subsequent by-election in November 2004, defeating Atiq's younger brother Mohammad Ashraf aka Khalid Azim. In January 2005, Raju Pal was shot dead while going to his village on the occasion of Republic day by Atiq Ahmed's goons for defeating his brother Ashraf. Thereafter, Ashraf won the seat by defeating Pal's wife Pooja Pal. Ashraf was the prime accused in the murder. Mohammad Ashraf's brother Atiq had also been charged with complicity in the murder. While Atiq was in jail with 21 criminal cases pending against him, the then Mayawati government faced criticism for its failure to arrest Ashraf.